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MOSCOW, Dec 16- The rouble plunged more than 11 percent against the dollar on Tuesday in its steepest intraday fall since the Russian financial crisis in 1998 as confidence in the central bank evaporated after an ineffectual rate hike. It has now fallen close to 20 percent this week, taking its losses this year against the dollar to more than 50 percent and...

*Russi energy min shares OPEC view market will stabilize itself. A near- $20 drop in prices since OPEC declined to cut output at a Nov. 27 meeting has yet to prompt the Gulf members- who overruled calls for output cuts by poorer members such as Venezuela- to reverse course. Russia has said it would not cut production even if oil prices fell below $60 per barrel- far below...

MOSCOW, Dec 16- The rouble plunged more than 11 percent against the dollar on Tuesday in its steepest intraday fall since the Russian financial crisis in 1998 as confidence in the central bank evaporated after an ineffectual rate hike. It has now fallen close to 20 percent this week, taking its losses this year against the dollar to over 50 percent and raising...

MOSCOW, Dec 16- Russia failed to halt the collapse of the rouble on Tuesday, leaving President Vladimir Putin facing a full-blown currency crisis that could weaken his iron grip on power. A 6.5 percentage point interest rate rise to 17 percent overnight failed to prevent the currency hitting record lows in a "perfect storm" of low oil prices, looming recession and...

DOHA, Dec 16- Russia said on Tuesday it would not cut oil output to help prop up prices and refrained from calling on OPEC to do so despite its economy showing signs of severe stress and its currency collapsing to record lows. Oil prices dropped to near $59 per barrel on Tuesday for the first time since 2009 after OPEC member the United Arab Emirates reinforced on...

*Central Bank governor under pressure. MOSCOW, Dec 16- Late on Monday night Russia's central bank governor wrung out an agreement with her officials to impose the country's biggest rate hike since the financial crisis of 1998-- with the approval of President Vladimir Putin. His ratings are at an all-time high following the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea, but...

MOSCOW, Dec 16- The rouble plunged more than 10 percent for the second day on Tuesday and recorded its worst fall since the Russian financial crisis in 1998 as confidence in the central bank evaporated after an ineffectual overnight rate hike. It was more than 15 percent weaker versus the euro at 92.99, dragged lower against both currencies by falling oil prices,...

MOSCOW, Dec 16- A sharp overnight rate hike failed to ease pressure on the rouble on Tuesday, as the market continued to test the central bank's resolve to defend the currency and piled more pressure on Russia's faltering economy. At 0907 GMT, the rouble was down around 2.6 percent against the dollar at 66.14 after hitting a new all-time low and was 4.8 percent...

MOSCOW, Dec 16- The Russian rouble trimmed its gains on Tuesday after opening 9 percent stronger against the dollar following the central bank's overnight decision to raise rates by 650 basis points, but the currency was still 46 percent down on the year. "We are not expecting a sharp recovery- a recovery towards 50 will definitely not happen," said Dmitry Stadnik, a...

MOSCOW, Dec 16- The Russian central bank's overnight decision to hike rates by 650 basis points after the rouble suffered its largest daily fall in 15 years was expected to temporarily stabilise the currency on Tuesday. "We are not expecting a sharp recovery- a recovery towards 50 will definitely not happen," said Dmitry Stadnik, a trader at Rosbank in Moscow.

The rouble weakened beyond 60 roubles per dollar for the first time as 5-1/ 2- year lows in oil prices threatened Russia's economy. Sales of oil and gas are Russia's chief source of export revenue, while tougher U.S. sanctions on Moscow, which were set out in a bill passed by U.S. Congress Friday, added to Russia's economic woes. "The viciousness of the decline in oil...

WASHINGTON, Dec 15- The Obama administration has not yet made a decision on whether the president will sign a bill authorizing new sanctions against Russia over its activities in Ukraine, a senior administration official said on Monday. The official, who declined to be identified, said the administration "remains deeply concerned about the aggressive actions...

MOSCOW, Dec 15- The rouble plunged almost 10 percent against the dollar on Monday, its sharpest fall since 1998, and Russian assets sold off across markets, testing the firepower of the central bank and posing a major challenge for President Vladimir Putin. Traders said the slump in the rouble, down 49 percent against the dollar this year, forced the central bank to...

MOSCOW, Dec 15- Moving closer to the European Union offers no panacea for Ukraine's financial problems and will mean big losses in economic ties with Moscow, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an article published on Monday. He said Moscow had for many years provided generous terms in deals with Kiev which had helped build up Ukraine's economy but...

WASHINGTON, Dec 12- U.S. lawmakers were expected on Friday to approve new sanctions on Russian weapons companies and investors in the country's high-tech oil projects, putting more U.S. pressure on President Vladimir Putin for interference in eastern Ukraine. The bill, which will be sent to Obama to sign, requires him to apply sanctions on Russian state-owned...

MOSCOW, Dec 12- About 100 Russians who have seen their mortgage payments rocket due to the plunge in the value of the rouble took to the streets of central Moscow on Friday to demand state help. We don't want to default, "said Yelena Lebedenko, an accountant whose monthly repayments have in seven years risen from 40,000 roubles to nearly 90,000..